8 ways to encourage church planters
This was written by my good friend Rick Duncan, Pastor of Cuyahoga Church in Cleveland.Have you ever been to a meeting where you were a presenter and you realized that you needed to learn much, much more than anyone else in the room? That happened to me today.
I was on a panel in Indianapolis to talk about issues related to being a sponsoring church for church plants. One of the questions was, "How do you encourage church planters?" I had a couple of lame things to say. But the other guys on the panel had some great things to say. I took notes. And in my heart I prayed, "Jesus, help me to be more encouraging to our church planters. I repent!"
Here are 8 great ideas for sponsoring churches.
1. Establish regular coaching/mentoring/encouraging meetings for coffee, breakfast, or lunch.
2. Remember significant dates like birthdays for the planter and his spouse and their anniversaries.
3. Keep an ongoing prayer list for the planter and pray regularly for the planter; then share with the planter, "I prayed for you about... How is that going?"
4. Include your church planter in something special that your church offers such as a special event or a concert.
5. Invite the planter to church staff meetings.
6. Invite the church planter to preach at your church.
7. Establish a missional champion in your church who will directly relate to the church planter.
8. Make visits to the planter's weekend worship service a regular part of your connection process.
I was on a panel in Indianapolis to talk about issues related to being a sponsoring church for church plants. One of the questions was, "How do you encourage church planters?" I had a couple of lame things to say. But the other guys on the panel had some great things to say. I took notes. And in my heart I prayed, "Jesus, help me to be more encouraging to our church planters. I repent!"
Here are 8 great ideas for sponsoring churches.
1. Establish regular coaching/mentoring/encouraging meetings for coffee, breakfast, or lunch.
2. Remember significant dates like birthdays for the planter and his spouse and their anniversaries.
3. Keep an ongoing prayer list for the planter and pray regularly for the planter; then share with the planter, "I prayed for you about... How is that going?"
4. Include your church planter in something special that your church offers such as a special event or a concert.
5. Invite the planter to church staff meetings.
6. Invite the church planter to preach at your church.
7. Establish a missional champion in your church who will directly relate to the church planter.
8. Make visits to the planter's weekend worship service a regular part of your connection process.
